Photo ID Requirement Creates Roadblocks to Plan B Access, Guttmacher Cautions

May 6, 2013 —Although FDA last week lowered the age limit on nonprescription sales of Plan B One-Step to 15, the requirement that consumers display photo ID to purchase it continues to be an unnecessary barrier to access, according to a statement released on Friday by the Guttmacher Institute, UPI reports.

Guttmacher officials said requiring stores to require proof of age to sell the emergency contraceptive will "ensnare older teens and even women in their 20s" and "also ignores the reality that even many older adolescents, let alone 15-year-olds, do not have driver's licenses or other government-issued forms of photo ID and would be unable to meet this requirement."

The statement also cited Guttmacher research showing that while very few young adolescent girls have had sex, 8.6% of female teens are sexually active by age 14. In 2008, there were 10,200 pregnancies among 14-year-olds, the vast majority of which were unintended, according to the group. "Excluding this group from timely access to emergency contraception is counterproductive," Guttmacher said (UPI, 5/5).

Washington Post Columnist Argues Parents Should Be Involved in Teens' EC Decisions

"As so often happens in contemporary debate, arguments being proffered in support of allowing teenagers as young as 15 (and possibly younger) to buy the 'morning-after pill' without adult supervision are false on their premise," Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker writes.

She argues that the "pros" of EC "are obvious: Plan B, if taken within three days of unprotected sex, greatly reduces the chance of pregnancy." However, she asks, "What about the right of parents to protect their children?" According to Parker, "[E]veryone surely wishes to prevent children from having babies. But public policy should be aimed at involving, rather than marginalizing, parents."

She concludes, "Politics is the debate about the role of government in our lives. And the debate about Plan B is fundamentally about whether government or parents have ultimate authority over their children's well-being" (Parker, Washington Post, 5/3).